Central
by Ninjaladybug
Summary: Fullmetal alchemist in modern times. To the masses alchemy is "black magic", an ridicules science created by loony old men. But a top secret military organization, known as Central, knows better.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes: Yeah! Second Story! This time it won't be a oneshot… obviously. Last fic I got two reviews (more than I expected!) So I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart: greensapphire and DarkHeartsUnleased. YAY! And also the 114 hits and 109 visitors for "Kakashi's Hot Date?" . **

**This story is placed in modern-ish day instead of the early 20****th**** century. I had this idea for a while, though it's not very creative, I still haven't yet seen a fic like this. Mail me the link if you have/fine one! This first chapter is kinda boring, it will get better. I finally gotten around to write this, 'cuz I was bored. Tell me what you think! All comments, ideas, and even complaints will be much appreciated and answered in the beginning of each chapter. But no flames! Roy Mustang will kill all flamers. You have been warned. Also I hate the title of this story. I will probably change it soon. Oh and one last thing! I normally write in first person, this is the first time I've writen in 3rd in a while. I will screw up a lot. Just a little warning there. **

**Disclaimer: Though there is no need for a disclaimer since this is a **_**fan**_** fiction site, I still love writing them. Soooooo…. I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor any of the characters. I do own a pair of Rainbows flip-flops, and love them. It's like walking on clouds.**

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_1998_

_Anneville, Iowa _

_Older Brother: 6 Younger brother: 5_

Anneville, Iowa. The current population is 2,052, and will most likely stay around that number for years. It's a small farming town around the center of Iowa and, obviously, most people there are farmers. There is very little to do in Anneville, having no malls or big shopping centers. There is only an arcade, a library, and a small rundown YMCA. (Where you can learn Karate, swimming, and Yoga.) The town's one and only achievement is receiving the title of_ 'Most boring town in America'_, from _Time_ for 23 years in a row. Unfortunately, you cannot buy that magazine in Anneville, so the people there are quite oblivious to this fact.

If you go down Steward Road, (It hardly counts as a road, though. More like dirt trail.) you will be at Rockbell Auto-shop. The automobile shop is run by Pinako Rockbell, who is a crazy old lady that is "Strong as a bull.", or so her son says. Most people find that hard to believe, since she's rather short and plump. A pair of round glasses sit on her big, round nose. Everyone agrees that she is a bit twisted in the head, to put it gently. The shop is also home to Yuri Rockbell and his family. Yuri and his beautiful wife, Sara, are both doctors. The finest doctors in Anneville, to be exact. They met at Yale University, dated for a couple of years, and moved to Anneville. Most would wonder: "Why the hell did they move there if they went to such a prodigious college." The Answer to that question is simple: Yuri is a momma's boy. Sara and Yuri have only one daughter, Winry. She is an extremely attractive little girl, with short blonde hair and big blue eyes. Instead of being fascinated by the wonders of medicine, she loves machines. (Much to her father's dismay.) Young Winry is always seen in the shop with her grandmother, helping out costumers or playing with her puppy, Den.

Less than a mile away from the Rockbell's house, are the Elric's. Trisha Elric is Pinako's youngest child. **[A/N: Yes, this means Winry and Ed are related. I know that's not the way it is in the manga/anime, but I felt like changing it up a bit]** Trisha lived in Anneville her entire life. She never went to college, or did much traveling. Her husband, Hohenheim, was a traveling chemist, who fell in love with Trisha when he was doing research in the town. They got married and had two kids, Edward and Alphonse. Hohenheim left when Edward was two. Both of their children are highly intelligent for their age. Edward is six and Alphonse, five.

On a large hill sits a school, John Evans Elementary. On the second floor, room 205, second row 3rd from the right, sits Edward Elric. He was average height and weight, and had short blonde hair that was as straight as a pin. A clump of hair stuck up in the air, which annoyed his mother. The most unusual feature of this boy are his eyes. They were a rich golden color, like topaz. Also he was born in November, so his birthstone is topaz, which is quite odd to most people. **[A/N: I don't really know when Ed was born, sorry.]** Sitting beside him was his cousin and best friend, Winry, who was drawing pictures of squids. Edward sighed _'This stuff is so easy, first grade stinks.' _He thought.

"Ed. What is five plus four?" Miss Woodward asked.

"Nine." Ed said, still bored.

"Great job! You got it right." She clapped her hands about five times.

_'I wish I could slice off those hands.' _Edward daydreamed about a truck running over the teacher. She would still be clapping and saying "Great job, Ed! I can't believe you pushed me into the road! That takes skills children!" in her annoyingly high pitched voice.

"Finally, school is over!" Ed stretched his arms over his head and yawned.

"It wasn't that bad, brother." His quiet brother said.

"Yeah, you're in kindergarten. You play games and watch movies all day! Now in first grade-"

"It's pretty much the same, Ed." Al said chuckling. Alphonse was one year younger than his brother. He had dirty blonde hair, warm chocolate brown eyes, and a round face.

"Pssh, how would you know?"

"Hey! AL, ED!" Winry waved at the two bickering boys, "Wanna walk home together?"

"Sorry Win. We are going to the library today." Ed replied back. He heard that they received a new Magic Tree House book, and his fingers were itching to get a hold onto it. After Winry left, the boys started walking to the public library.

"Hey, little brats!" Ed and Al recognized that voice. It belonged to a greasy haired, "big boned" third grader named Butch. Someone who torments the brothers daily.

"What do you want, Butch?!?" Ed sneered.

"Hey, don't give me attitude, shorty.

"We're only short compared to a monster like you!" Al yelled, very un-Al-ish.

"Thanks, I know I'm a monster! And love it! Now where are you two going this lovely Tuesday afternoon?"

"None of your business, Butch!" Ed snapped.

"Now, now, now. That talk deserves a punishment." He said with a glint in his eye. The brothers looked at each other with panic. Butch Boison wasn't called Butch-ER for nothing. There was only one way out of this: A tactical escape, AKA: getting the hell away. Butch might have a hard punch, but was as slow as a snail.

The boys made it to the library, panting, but in one piece. Butch stopped at the door, since he was allergic to books. Ed stuck his tongue out, and Butch replied with an inappropriate gesture. After giggling and catching their breath, Ed went up to the front desk, while Al went to the animal section.

"Umm. Excuse me." Ed tried to get the attention of a mid-twenties librarian with too much eye shadow on.

"Huh? Oh, what can I do for you hun?" She said, snapping her gum.

"I was wondering if anyone has checked out the new Magic Tree House book, it's called_ Vacation Under the Volcano_."

"Let me check…" The librarian, also known as Stacy, was twirling her blonde curly hair. And still popping her gum. Most damn annoying thing you could do. "Mmm, Sorry, hun. Checked out by Kyle Johnson, just yesterday."

"Oh, I see." Edward said, his voice drenched with disappointment. He walked over to his brother's favorite table, and sat down. Ed slammed his head against the table. He traced his finger over the scratches and dents that ruined the wood_. 'I really wanted to read that too, I'll find this Kyle, and demand the book from him.'_ He though.

"Hey, Brother! Look what I found." A bubbly voice said, seething with excitement.

"I don't care about your dumb cat books, Al!"

"No! It's not that! It's something really cool! Stop moping and look at this!" Al raised his voice a bit, and the librarian glared at us.

"Fine. Just lower your voice!" Ed looked up to see an old tattered book. _The Basics of Alchemy. _


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Second chapter, finally written and posted. Sorry for the delay, but I had important matters to handle. Don't ask what, though. Top Secret (B.S). Better late than never. I like this chapter more than the first. Twas fun to write. Bit shorter than the last. Well… thanks to all who favored and added this story to their lerts. Much appreciated. Hope you liked this chapter too. And now to answer the reviews…. **

**Puddycat: Thanks for the review! My sentence structure has always been weak. I used to hate writing until two years ago. I might rewrite the first chapter, if I have the time. I fixed the 1****st**** person mistake. Thanks for pointing that out. RANT WARNING! I really hate 3****rd**** person. I mean, very few people say in their head (or out loud): Stuart sat down on the wooden bench, and picked up her favorite book, Tithe. Kae raised her fist, ready to beat the crap out of Stephen #1. I know it's suppose to be that the narrator is looking at the story at a distance and is not directly involved in the story. (- how my 5****th**** grade teacher explained it) But I still hate writing in 3****rd**** person, because I like telling the story in one person's view. For this story, I couldn't decide if I wanted to write it in Alphonse or Edward's Pov (I hate switching from character to character… it just confuses me.) And I knew it would be better if I wrote it in 3****rd****. I enjoy ranting…. Obviously. **

**Shyj: Cool! I thought other people would have written a story like this. -^_^- I feel special xD Thankies for the review. I love secret societies. They always remind me of when I was young and pretending I was a spy. My Game boy was a GPS.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, nor any of the characters. Also I do not own Spock… but that doesn't have anything to do with this story, now does it?**

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"The Basics of Alchemy?" Ed snorted, "It's just a prank. Everyone knows there no such thing as Alchemy. It's illogical."

"Bit extravagant for a mere prank. I mean a whole book? Thinking it's just a hoax is illogical."

"People get bored, especially geeky boys who have no social life."

"The pot calling the kettle black... "Al muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Al opened the book and looked at the inside cover, "Where's the check out card?"

"Al, use your brain for once! Like I said a minute ago, some smart-aleck kid mixed it in with the other books. And if the other librarians are anything like that bimbo over there, then that book has been undetected for years. I bet you fifty cents that there are only blank pages in there."

Al flipped through a couple of pages to find bold, black text.

"Looks like you owe me some money." He giggled. Ed responded with a glare. After Al was done gloating, he turned his attention back to the book. He read over the content of the page a several times with a confused look on his face.

"What! What is it! Stop hoarding it! I wanna see it, too." Ed said, impatiently. He tried grabbing the book away from Al, but failed to do so.

"Why do you care? I thought you didn't believe in Alchemy."

"I changed my mind. I'm willing to believe now, but to fully believe… I have to see the book."

"Thanks to your sudden change of heart, I will now allow you to observe this book." Al grinned victoriously, for the second time this day.

"Getting a bit bigheaded, aren't you?" Ed said bitterly. He looked down at the book to see a single sentence. **Warning: Alchemy is a useful and powerful science, but, to those who don't use it properly, can be fatal.** Ed couldn't control it anymore; he started bursting in hysterical laughter. Stacy the librarian stared at the boy thinking he lost it.

"I can't believe you're serious about this… this trash!" He spat out. Al started to turn pink. "The people who studied this were crazy, loony, nuts, 5150, insane, mental, a few french fries short of a Happy meal, loco en la cabeza, fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down, so idiotic they got ninjas confused with pilgrims, thought that vampires sparkle and that underground there are a army of fairies that go by the name of LEP…."

"I get your point! I know most people wouldn't understand it, but I thought you would. Guess I was wrong." The younger brother snatched the book away from Ed and stormed off.

"Al, you know I was only kidding…" Edward said, still chuckling. But, it was too late. His brother had already left. The older sibling sat there with a blank look on his face, unsure what to do.

"That might have been a bit too harsh, but if I don't break his unrealistic dreams, then who will? He's probably waiting outside the library sniffling. Better go apologize before I get in trouble." He thought to himself. When Ed opened the double doors, he did not see his sniffling brother. He stood on the stone steps, shifting side-to-side tensely. He couldn't decide to either go looking for his brother, or to head home. It would be dark soon, and Al was afraid of the dark. But, if he didn't go home, then mother would worry about both of them.

"Al chose his stupid book over me, so why should I go looking for _him_? I'd rather be in a warm house, then out at night looking for that traitor." Ed starting his way back home, with a feeling of guilt in his stomach.

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"Where's Al?" Trisha asked concerned.

"I dunno." Ed used his fake dumb tone.

"Don't say 'I dunno'. You're his older brother! You should always know where he is!"

"He just ran off! How could I have stopped him? What am I, his body guard?!? Need to watch and protect him 24/7?" Edward snapped. His mother stood there speechless.

"Get inside. Dinner's waiting on the table. Let's hope he gets home soon; looks like a storm is coming."

Ed sat at the table looking down at his uneaten and cold Shepherd's pie. His mother just left to recruit a search party to find her youngest. Alphonse has been gone for three hours. Three hours since the big fight at library. He and Al don't get into fights very often; normally just about small issues that can be easily resolved. It was Al's fault though! For being so hypersensitive and naïve. The book was probably a fake, and Al has too much pride to return home to admit his defeat.

Outside is was raining cats and dogs, excuse my cliché idiom. Poor Al, he's so fragile and jumpy. Ed's imagination started spitting out terrible scenarios that his younger brother could be in. Al in a little cardboard box, too scared to move, or even stand. Fighting off mad dogs with his tiny shoe. Being kidnapped by a group of homicidal yodelers. His body parts being used for target practice by the Russian Mafia.

'_Al, where are you?'_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Third chapter. Obviously… Well it might be a while before I update next, since I have school on Thursday. But, I'll try to write a chapter at least every two weeks. Hopefully you like this one… **

**Reviews: **

**DramaQueen524: Thanks! Glad you liked it. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but no guaranties. **

**bluedog10: Yes, that is a reference to Artemis Fowl. Eoin Colfer is one of my favorite authors. My family gave up and bought the hardback book, but I haven't finished it yet. Now that I think about it… LEP isn't really an army, but more of a police force…… Hmm… Well, thankies for the review, alert, and fav! I'm glad you are enjoying the story. **

**Puddycat: ^-^ I feel bad for the werewolves in Twilight, they don't get to sparkle. All they have is an unusually high body temperature. I mean, reflecting sunlight is soooo much more useful than being able to survive in Antarctica shirtless. W00t! No Pov mistakes this time. I'm extremely proud of myself. Proofing and detail. Got it! Thanks for the review!**

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_Six o'clock. Three hours before the search. _

Al stomped down the sun bleached white steps of the library. His pale face was bright red from anger and embarrassment. The young boy tilted his head upward to see dark rain clouds attempting to conceal the setting sun.

_'If I don't get home soon, then Mother would be worried, but then I would have to confront Ed. I'd rather not deal with him right now.'_ Alphonse struggled with the conflict in his head for a minute and a half. He then realized that his only acceptable option was to hide around a shelter of overgrown bushes to observe the actions of his brother. The boy scurried off to his harbor of leaves, which wasn't the best place, surveillance wise, since he couldn't see anything, without revealing his own whereabouts. Unfortunately it was too late to switch, since the elder brother stepped outside of the library. Alphonse had the sudden urge to giggle, -sneaking around always had that effect on him- but bit the inside of his lip to keep from doing so.

For at least five minutes, Al heard nothing, but the sound of rustling leaves caused by the swift autumn wind. Most children his age would have gotten bored by now, but Al has the patience of a rock. The little boy remained in his haven, even though his legs and ankles were starting to hurt from his squatting position. After what seemed like ages, the older brother finally said something,

"Al chose his stupid book over me, so why should I go looking for _him_? I'd rather be in a warm house, then out at night looking for that traitor." Those two sentences hurt the young boy more than any physical pain could. He bit down on his lip too hard, which gave him a mouthful of copper tasting blood. After he could no longer hear the shuffling of his elder brother's feet, Alphonse slowly stood up from his sanctuary. He glared at the silhouette of his brother, wishing that Edward would just disappear. Not wanting to go home, Al went on a quest to find somewhere to spend the night without such ignorant people.

The youngest Elric wandered through an abandoned field for an hour or so. He was in unfamiliar territory; never going that far East before. Or was it South? Now that the sun has set, the boy was unsure. He was much less experience at star directions. Basically, Alphonse was terribly lost, and the field was getting eerier as he got father from home. The entire field, and the adjacent one, was pitch black. It was also totally empty, not even grass growing. The boy glanced at the field every few steps with hints of curiosity and fear. Eventually the boy surrendered to his curiosity and placed his hand on the black ground. Right away, he noticed that the ground felt powdery, like a very fine sand. He observed the palm of his hand in the moon light; the black powder on the ground transferred on to his hand.

_'Could it be… ashes?'_ Alphonse thought,_ 'But… this field looks like it has been inhibited for years! Fires actually make grass and other plants more fertile. This makes no sense.'_ His train of thought was rudely interrupted by the slight shower of rain. Alphonse stuffed the book up his oversized white knit polo shirt, knowing that it wouldn't fit in his miniature backpack. The slight shower turned into a downpour. The boy glanced around frantically looking for some kind of shelter. The only thing he could see was a small house to the left of him. He ran at full speed toward the building, wincing every time lightning struck.

By the time Alphonse made it to the house, he was soaked to the bone. The only entrance to the house was a small wooden door. It was most likely rotting in the inside and the white paint was chipping off in long, thick strips. Luckily for Al, the house didn't have any means of security. No bolts on the window, nor lock on the door. The interior was much like the exterior: neglected. There wasn't a single window wasn't shattered, cobwebs were covering all four corners, a complete lack of wallpaper over the naked dry wall… the list could go on and on.

Alphonse sighed and leaned against door, tired and depressed. He closed his eyes and wished he was at home, sleeping dreamlessly in his bed, when he opened his eyes again. That is not what happened.

The old door could not even handle the five year old's weight. It broke free from its rusty hinges, and brought Al with it. The boy and door landed flat on their backs, though it was more painful for the boy than the door. Alphonse crawled into the house, since it hurt too much to stand. He took quite a fall for a child his age. He stumbled into the upper-left corner of the house, not bothering to brush away the cobwebs. He removed the book from his shirt and threw it against the opposite wall.

_'It's all that stupid book's fault! I wouldn't be in this situation if I didn't pick it up!' _ The boy though, sobbing.

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_Back to Ed_

Edward Elric was pacing back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room. He was hoping for either his mother or little brother to burst through the front door. Unlike his brother, Edward had zero patience. And his mom has only been gone for ten minutes. He suddenly stopped all movement, feeling an odd sensation.

"My Al senses are tingling." He whispered. Without even thinking, the boy ran upstairs to grab an oversized blue duffel bag. He stuffed a blanket and pillow into the bag, and then ran back downstairs to get food and matches. When he was all packed and ready to go, he sprinted out the back door, slamming it on his way out.

"Don't worry Al! I'm coming!" Ed screamed at the top of his lunges. He had no clue where his little brother was, but let his heart guide him.

It was a little under an hour when the older brother found the field of ashes. He slowed down a bit when he first saw it, but shook his head a couple of times, trying to get his priorities straight. First to find Alphonse, then the mystical, magical, black field of doom and despair. With that though in mind, the older brother doubled his pace. The third grade teacher, who was a former Olympic sprinter, would be shocked by his speed.

Within minutes the eldest brother reached the rundown "house". He ran inside, and straight to his little brother, who was curled up in a tiny ball, sobbing.

"Al! AL! I'm so sorry! So sorry!" Edward apologized, tears running down his cheeks.

"No! I'm.. I'm sorry." The younger brother also apologized, choking out the words in between sobs. They both embraced, both soaking wet, while crying into each other's shoulder.

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Blah.. too much poorly written fluff at the end… Sorry 'bout that folks.


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